


Gossip over Drinks

by StormBlue



Series: Twilight of Blood Collection [3]
Category: Warhammer Fantasy
Genre: F/F, F/M, LEWD, and SMUT, and drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 13:37:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15171854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormBlue/pseuds/StormBlue
Summary: While Skadi and Scum wait for nightfall, they mosey on over to the local tavern and get plastered. Skadi gets laid. There's drinking and an almost bar fight. Also a giant dwarf.





	Gossip over Drinks

**Author's Note:**

> Scum: A blind necromancer who currently holds all the cards in this relationship. She had plans for revenge against the town that tried to burn her at the stake and Mannfred is a major player. She and Skadi are both currently traveling with him. Scum earns the money in the group by writing trashy romance novels based on old diaries she found about vampires. In truth, she knows more about them then she lets on.
> 
> Skadi: A former Khornate, Skadi is deeply involved with Scum although exactly why and how is still a mystery to the vampire. She rides and owns the massive mare named Harpy, a beast blessed by Khorne that currently drives his black coach. She acts as Scum's bodyguard and receives a monthly payment despite momney being basically useless to her.
> 
> Mannfred von Carstein: Found by Skadi and Scum, he is currently in their company out of convenience and an interest in Scum's plans. The three of them are in transit to Gerhof to exact Scum's revenge plan. 
> 
> Bjorn Tigersbane: A suspeciously hairless dwarf who somehow ended up the south. His attitude brokers no argument but Skadi messes with him anyways.
> 
> Set during the chapter Gerhof in the main Twilight of Blood book.

The blind necromancer winced as she stepped out into the early evening sun. The blighted orb must have been directly in front of them, easily feeling the sweat inducing heat through her blindfold. Gerhof in general was a stinking, humid hellhole and even more so when it was early spring. How exactly Skadi managed not to cook inside of her thick bear hide cloak and hardened leather armor the woman never knew. Even garments made of natural fabrics like her own became choked with her own body oils within minutes. At this point she assumed the Norscan never bothered to complain about it. Instead of noting further on it, Scum blew out a sigh and scrubbed sweat from her furrowed crown. Sometimes she swore she could feel a small bristle of hair every now and then...

“Fairing well?” Skadi asked all of a sudden. The woman sounded curiously metallic, as she did on occasion. As if speaking through a helm she never had to begin with.

Scum smiled for the benefit of her bodyguard. “Yes, fine. Only thinking. Conversation slips me right now.”

“I can start.” The brutish woman grinned. “For example, you smell like him.”

“Who?”

“The leech. A very peculiar sort of smell too…”

The necromancer’s cheeks reddened. “Ah...heh.”

“You star struck little mink.” Skadi somehow verbalized a wink. “I didn’t think you could get into his robes so quickly. I’m impressed.” 

“He came to me!” Scum huffed, almost put off. "I was very flattered. Teased half-way to hell, but very flattered!” Now smirking like a cat, the blind woman had to slap a hand over her mouth to help mute the noise. While Skadi still led them along, she could feel the occasional gazes of passers by every once in a while.

Radiating pride and pleasure, the brute glided closer to Scum until she was practically bearing down on the taller woman with all the affection of an excited hound. “Please tell me he took you. I want to hear the details. So far I’ve been the only one to touch you like that, and I know you’ve been wanting the right man...er, monster.”

“I dare not...not in public.” Scum whispered through a shy grin, huddled under Skadi’s oppressive warmth. 

By that time her bodyguard had her broad, mannish face pressed into the back of the other's hairless nape. Scum felt the power of her smugness through it. “At the tavern then?”

“Is it already so close to evening?”

“Aye, the sun’s at the horizon. Reason it’s so bloody muggy. We’ve got a few hours still before sundown, so we might as well make use of it right?” Skadi’s smugness became all the more powerful.

“Yes, please. It’s been a long day and I can give you all of details when I’ve got a drink or two in me.” 

“Of course.” A kiss was pressed into the bald flesh of her head before being lead a ways more.

As a child this particular part of Gerhof was unfamiliar for a reason, even if her mother had frequented the area. Town square after dark was as much a night market as it was a front for shadier businesses as regular shoppes and smitheries gradually closed for the night. It was surprisingly loud too. Since the vampires had supposedly left Drakenhof after Mannfred’s death, the horrors that prowled the night were best dealt with in mass. That, and plundering certain smaller holds had allowed the town a little more wealth than one would imagine.

Not so with this age old tavern though. It was a creaking, well worn place that struggled with the combined weight of its usual occupants, and that didn’t include the two strangers that just walked inside. Hardly anyone stirred and parted for their sake and Skadi had to literally topple a few drunks of both genders before she could get close to an available table.

“Hng, you gonna do fine here?” Skadi grunted over the noise, hunched over her charge. Scum seemed none the worse for wear and smiled vaguely at some of the passers by who eyed her attire appraisingly.

“I think so. It’s noisy, but not much more than that. If someone touches me, I have Jangle’s rapier at my hip. Won’t be able to swing the damned thing in this space, but flashing a bit of metal should help.”

“As you say.” Skadi sank heavily into one of the seats, the iron moaning under her weight. The woman’s muscle mass was dense enough for her to weigh far more than she looked.

“You go have fun.” The necromancer insisted immediately, waving a hand. “Just bring me back a few drinks so I can unwind, I’ll be able to talk once I get my tongue nice and loose. Here.” The knapsack that also contained Jangles in her entirety produced a somehow larger draw string of a good size. She fumbled it across the table until Skadi palmed it. “At least take my money so no one tries to swipe it from my poor, blind self.”

“Ah, I love you.” Skadi grunted affectionately and Scum felt one more kiss press into her scalp before Skadi was snarling and bulling people out of the way again.

Fumbling with the various talismans hidden in her girdle, Scum sucked in a breath and let out an explosive giggle. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but it had been a while since she had news of this sort for Skadi. Despite her revealing garments, the necromancer preferred to keep her hands to herself, coveting only certain men of certain…sorts. The sorts of men who’s veins ran cold, who's mouths were full of fangs…

 Some childhood fantasies never died, it seemed. And now that one of them had been all but fulfilled, Scum found herself more committed than ever. Hopefully Mannfred von Carstein could find her tomes, positive that he would have a lot of missing information to add to them. Her desire was more than just physical after all. Vampires controlled power unrestrained and a meek mind like her own craved such things. At some point Scum had even admitted to being jealous of Skadi, and what the brute had once possessed. But they had different gods. Skadi had left hers, and Scum had a ways to go before she ever earned the attention of hers. Sylvania was a cruel, bitter wind and envy would get her no where in claiming her own place. 

Just as the next thought formed, she was startled away from it by a thunk on the table. Skadi had returned with something heavy and presumably liquid. “Beer!” The Norscan barked.

Scum puffed out a surprised breath. “Hell, you friegtened me! But aye, beer.” Incomplete fingers eagerly grappled with the stein when it was slid in her direction, much to Skadi’s amusement.

“You’ve got your blood up”

“I was contemplating!” Scum pointed out, coughing. “He did take me, oh goodness did he ever. It wasn’t so gradual either. Cold as stone! Firm as one too, goodness..” 

Skadi rumbled. “Oh? Did he feel like that granite dildo I gave you for your birthday last year?”

“Better. Much better. Ah! Not to undermine your carving skills of course, but this was so alive! And his fangs!” 

“He actually bit you?”

“No! Bloody…no, but he seemed close to doing so.” The necromancer folded her arms across her ample chest, pouting. “But I can wait.”

“As you should.” Skadi loudly sipped at her own booze. Probably something far stronger than beer. “Can’t fall that hard so quickly, my love.”

“I know.” Scum leaned back in her chair, thankful when Skadi poured her another round. “But I want it. So badly. I want to be powerful. I want to be by his side as the town burns.” A rare bit of anger, true anger, touched the older woman’s heart. 

Although Scum could not see it, Skadi was biting her bottom lip and grinning terribly. “Ah, my love you would have made a good Khornate, if I still walked the path of blood. But don’t worry. This town will burn. You’ve been bloody planning this revenge forever.” 

“And Mannfred will be the key to that.” Scum muttered, more softly this time. “He can create ashes of my past and I’ll never have to face it again.”

“Will you still you keep Jangles about?” Skadi raised a brow, gently poking the other’s knapsack. Something clattered and poked her back accusingly. The woman muffled a snicker. 

“…perhaps.” Scum turned her head away, unsure. “I’m not sure what we’ll do after this is over. Serve our newly awakened master surely, but…” She spread her fingers. “I’ll be back to the drafting stages after that. This chapter of my life is…it’s not so clear.” 

“Ugh, stop. You’re getting nervous again. Don’t worry. Something’s gotta happen. You don’t need to have your path written out in detail like you do with your books.” Skadi insisted softly, pushing a third…or was it…fourth stein at the other woman. “The leech has to have something up his prissy little sleeves for us.” 

Groping at her drink almost impulsively, Scum began to quickly lose cognitive function. “I hope it’s more intimacy. Don’t you understand, Skadi? I want this damned monster more than I’ve ever wanted any man and I just...I hope he includes me in his future plans and doesn’t just, uh. Gods, what do you call it? A rump and dump? I-I mean I would never actually call it that to his face, Skadi but I worry!” 

“Yes that. But I doubt it. At least he better not or he’ll wake up one night with his dick peeled like a fruit.” 

The now buzzed woman grinned waveringly. “Oh, I hope that Mannfred is as compulsively protective and angry in bed as you are with me.”

“Does being a jealous egomaniac count? Because I’ve met Slaaneshi ascendents with less indulgent personalities.”

“Yes! But Skadi, Skadi, I hunger for this man. He...gods, he did something with his pelvis and I’m still feeling it deep inside me.” She whispered harshly as if she was trying to finesse a much deeper meaning. Her hands were wondering all over the place. All over her chest, all over her skin...all over Skadi. “You don’t understand, he can’t be doing these sorts of things to someone like me! He ruined me. He spoiled me. He...HE…” 

With more delicacy than the Norscan looked capable of, she peeled Scum off the table. “I think you might have had enough, love. Heheh, ah, you’re all rosy cheeked too. It’s cute. But it might be a good idea to get you a room up stairs. Don’t worry, I’ll pack your favorite dildo too.” Of course that last part was whispered into the other’s ear. It was a noisome place, but people had started to stare at them regardless. Might be due to the fact that the necromancer’s attire was gradually starting to loosen of its own accord. As hilarious as Skadi found it, she would rather keep her employer’s dignity in tact.

“Skadi! It is not a dildo, goodness! It’s a woman’s solid companion!” Scum squirmed even as Skadi helped her off the chair. “So crass; it’s...attractive. Say it again.” 

“Dildo.”

Laughing, the brute gently smothered her employer as the other woman tittered rapturously and wiggled as if her limbs had been replaced with agitated snakes. Stamping up the stairs located roughly towards the back the tavern, Skadi found the halls hosting the suites to be blissfully quiet despite the noise filtering up through the abused floors. Suites, of course, was a very loose term here. In reality the rooms weren’t much more than bed sized closets, but they served their intended purpose. Scum sighed audibly as she was tossed onto the hay and moss mat, still red faced and yammering.  

Skadi silenced her with a small barrage of kisses before the knapsack landed on her chest. “Don’t worry, I’ll return before the place closes. Sober up and give your...solid companion some love.” Skadi could be heard smothering a cackle as the door shut behind her. 

“Mister Tigersbane.” The tavern wench sighed, reflexively hiking the plunging neckline of her bodice further up her bosom. While such assets were essential in earning the monetary patronage of a good percentage of the tavern’s population, Tigersbane tended to abuse his rights a little. Any efforts she’d made to otherwise correct him usually resulted in getting a handful of heavy coins dropped down her corset until she warmed to him again. He was a clever bastard, that one. Sometimes she scolded him on purpose just so she could get a hefty tip before dealing with him. 

Tigersbane in general was not a vertically blissed man by any means. Indeed, she was actually a couple of inches taller, but his mass more than made up for it and he had a growl like his name sake. At some point since he showed up in town some odd months earlier, she began to suspect he was hiding something. But then again, who wasn’t? Taverns were excellent places to drown your troubles and ensure that any secrets went with them. He looked a little odd too. A thicket of bristly stubble constantly threatened to grow along a jawline that might as well have been made of iron, and his eyes seemed to contain a fire she wasn’t willing to touch no matter how tempting it looked.  

She’d been with enough men to know the difference between the ones that looked dangerous and those who actually were.  

Tigersbane was dangerous.  

Besides the oddly portioned, unhandsome features, most women avoided him on principle. Men gave him a wide berth too, if only because of no less than five fights in the last month. All of which ended with the other guy being dragged out leaving behind a blood trail.

“Lorna please.” He smiled through smoke stained teeth. “It’s Bjorn. Don’t be so damned formal. I hate that shit. Makes me feel fucking old.” 

“You never look old, Bjorn.” She smiled, all charm and gossamer hiding an irksome sneer. “And you know how these gentlemen like to feel important. Why not take our time in getting familiar? You know what happens when some men go a little too fast…” 

“I’m no impotent fucking manling.” He grinned wider until she started to smell what he’d been drinking. “Give me a taste and I can live on it all fucking day.” 

She was about to retort with honest disgust, but a rattle and a flash of gold pouring down her bodice caused her to pause. She hadn’t even seen him getting the coins out of his tunic let alone see those meaty fingers get so close. “...maybe just a taste.”

Tigersbane purred, letting the wench slide onto his lap. It was like sitting upon an iron statue and his chin felt like it would scrap her neck raw, but...he did smell nice. Like sweet wood smoke and roasted pork. He certainly knew where to best touch a lady too. As smarmy as the man was, at least he knew how to spend her time and, his coin, well...

“Give the lady a break.”

Visibly cringing, the wench prepared to orally interject before what very well felt like a fight she didn’t want to be in the middle of could start. Looming a handful of feet from the pair, another woman had her full weight leaning casually on the bar counter, putting space between them and everyone else. At first the wench had assumed the voice belonged to a man and would have mistaken her for one on appearance too had it not been for softer lips and the lack of an Adam’s apple. The boiled leather cuirass also failed to fully hide what must have been a rather heavy bosom. The untamed mane of golden hair that was barely restrained by a collection of loose braids also happened to remind Lorna uncomfortably of someone from the North.

Tigersbane, for his part, looked absolutely put out. “Nah.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

“Please, please, patrons. Leave the baggage at the door.” The wench thrust her hands up, waving them redundantly. “If you’re going to fight at least have the manners to take it outdoors, please?” 

Grinning wolfishly, the woman took hold of the drink Tigersbane had temporarily abandoned and drained it. It was not weak liquor either.  Then, without blinking, she crushed the stein in her hand. Now Tigersbane looked like he was fixing to start swinging. Rather it was a fist or the chair he sat upon didn’t seem to matter.

“Give the lady a break.” The woman repeated, her voice ringing strangely.

“Damn. Fine.” He released the wench and the clearly disturbed woman slid off his lap and vanished into the crowd. Almost immediately the tension vanished from the brutish woman’s face.

“There, was that so hard? What are you doing being interested in human women?” 

Avoiding eye contact, Tigersbane waved over another stein but his posture remained taut. Strained almost, and there was an odd glow to his eyes. At least what could be seen of them under the heavy brow and hood. “You implying I’m interested in not human women?” 

“Ugh, no wonder the poor girl was sneering at you. You’re dripping with indulgence.”

“Pretty fucking words for a Khornate.”

“Former Khornate.” The other snarled, but otherwise didn’t feel inclined to move. She knew if she did, the man would likely be on top of her, and not in the way she wanted him to be. “I guess you’re not as thick skulled as you look. Shame, yours would have looked nice at the feet of my old patron.” 

“That your way of flirting?” Tigersbane grunted over the lip of his drink. He kept his mitts wrapped around it so firmly the paint was starting to flake off. “Can I at least get a name before you pound some fucking part of me into the ground?” 

“Skadi. Please. You think you can handle a woman like me?”

The man reeled back, offended. “I can handle any damn woman!” 

“Were the women back at home in the mountains blissed with better beards than you? That why you’re tugging on the corset strings of some poor, flimsy tavern girl? I guess that must be so because you look pretty bloody bald for a dwarf.” 

“Fuck you!” Tigersbane surged forward and got inches from Skadi’s face. Now she could see his eyes were an unnatural color, like flame, and the skin of his head crawled with whorls of ink.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” Skadi grinned hard enough to display her elongated canines. “Don’t think I can’t see that mace in your breeches.”

Tigersbane was forced to stop. She really was flirting with him. No one flirted with him. He looked like a bruised thumb. Hell, the only woman who let him get handsy at all  just fucked off. Now he had this ape of a female smirking at him as if she wanted to eat him as much as fuck him. More infuriating and confusing was that the woman did not move. She wasn’t making any moves to grab him, punch him…kiss him. He had nothing to work with, damn it. 

“The fuck do you want, woman?” He said so quietly it was almost drown out by the crowd as they started to finally notice. People gave them space, forming a living ring of bodies as bar tenders cleared the counters and reached for hidden firearms. Now Tigerbane was ready to bolt. He knew they had a damned blunderbuss under there that was packing silver bullets. Wouldn’t do much against a dwarf, but they stung and fragmented under the skin. 

Moments felt like hours. Everyone had fallen into a pregnant silence. Skadi filled the void with two words. 

“Your cock.” 

“…fucking.”

“That’s what I intend to do to you, yes.”

Tigerbane turned and jerked his arm at the crowd.  “…fuck off!” 

They scattered like flies, violently getting back to whatever they’d been doing. Even the bar tenders yanked their hands away from their weapons, putting their hands on anything but.

Skadi continued to radiate an air of casual amusement, winking. “Want me to fuck off too?”

“Let me fucking…think about that.” The dwarf hissed through his teeth, retrieving the chair he hadn’t known he knocked over. Returning to his drink, the dwarf drained the contents and decided his was fuzzy headed enough to deal with this. Then he looked down. 

He soon realized the people probably weren’t just staring because of the potential conflagration. Indeed, he was at full mast, the full weight of it pressing against trousers that were quite suddenly too tight. Fingers drummed along the abused counter wood, considering his own. Not to mention the way Skadi was staring at it both excited and disturbed him in equal measure, which only seemed to make the tightness worse.

“I’ll leave then.” Skadi said, rising smoothly from her chair. For a moment he stared at her retreating shoulders, lost in a thick mane of bear pelts and clanking chains.

“Wait.” He croaked, gently flicking the empty stein at the bar keep. “Listen woman. If you haven’t noticed I’m kind of an oddity around here. A fucking stranger at worst. Something to be avoided at best. I kinda learned to squint at anything that takes an interest in me before I can take an interest in it first.” Tigersbane stubbornly scrubbed at his erection, trying to tuck it back under his waistline before it winked at someone. “And you’re gonna need to pay for this, one way or another.” 

Eventually he stood up again, looking at Skadi expectantly.

“Not gonna spill too much about myself, but let’s say that I know how you feel. There’s a bloody good reason I’m all the way down south in this hellhole. I know not to ask questions, nor do I really care for answers much either. Honestly, I just need a good old fashioned rump and dump because my friend managed to get lucky before I did.” 

“So we agree. No questions, right?”

“Nothing that wouldn’t be audible over all the moaning.” 

“Good, because that’s exactly something I’d say.” 

The suite they occupied thus was actually directly next to the one she had left Scum in. Not a hard thing to do because this place was not built with space in mind. And indeed they felt cramped by the time they shoved each other into the room and locked the door. Tigersbane had managed to calm himself down a little with a couple of puffs on a pipe filled with something that smelled potent. Skadi did not bother to ask, instead busying herself with unlatching her kit. A surprising number of layers, both armor and not, fell away from a body full of scars and muscle. Burns smeared out marks that were once tattoos set at regular intervals,  trailing up her skin like brutal stitches. The woman must have really done something to screw up in the eyes of the blood god, or she refused him so completely the only vestment left was that unremovable iron collar, long since gone cold.

He really wanted to comment on it, but the woman had seen right damn through him and a part of soul retreated from the idea that she might answer. He didn’t need that sort of information, because then she would have to know more about him and he wanted no one to know a thing about him, he… 

Skadi’s mouth pressed again his length, a deceptively soft introduction to what he knew would something a lot rougher later. The dwarf didn’t…quite know what to say, so he just growled and guided her lips. Then his hands were all over her. Rough skin sliding across heavy breasts and muscle thick arms. They did not kiss, for there was nothing approaching love between them, but the raw lust that surged through him after so long made him realize how badly he’d needed this. 

Despite the lack of room they had and the questionable strength of the bed frame, Tigersbane eventually got the Norscan pinned up against the wall, her knees firmly pressed into the edge of the bed mat. His girthy length ground against the small of her back while thick fingers fished around between her thighs, plucking delicious, baritone sounds from the woman’s iron banded throat. Both of them were clearly ready to go, and his deft fingering was really only a courtesy to make sure the woman was actually prepared. It wasn’t too hard to go from there. All he had to do was pull back, lean over her and...

Scum started as there was a wall rattling thunk in the next room. Her fun was already over, filled with memories of ice and fire both...but it seems like she might have to have another round. She knew Skadi’s voice immediately, but the male’s voice was new. It didn’t matter. Skadi had gotten lucky tonight and the Norscan was taking advantage of it the only way she seemed to know how. With their combined weight, the necromancer’s could hear the abused bed frame squeak and creak, not even getting close to drowning out the sounds they were making. Whoever was the woman’s bed mate for the evening must have been heavy because changing positions caused a noise like a rolling barrel full of beer being flung down the stairs. Promptly followed by Skadi actually screaming.  

“O-Oh...” scum voiced to herself, her solid companion finding its way into her palm again. 

Sometimes the noise faded down into something that would have almost sounded romantic were it not for how...moist their union was getting to be. Faintly, scum realized they were probably going several rounds without stopping and the bed and its entirety was suffering greatly. And then the frame shattered. They kept going and the necromancer shamelessly reunited with her solid companion. This seemed to go on for hours until the man grunted something gruff but appreciative and maybe they shared a kiss. A brief, hungry one surely but maybe she was merely hearing things. Both of the women would surely smell interesting when they returned to the von Carstein.


End file.
